German Fairy Tale Route

Route description

The route begins in Hanau, the birthplace of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, whose bronze monument stands on the market square. From there the B3 heads north through the Wetterau and the hills of Hesse towards Marburg.

Marburg is a university town where both brothers studied, with a steep old town climbing from the Gothic Elisabethkirche to the castle on the hill. Park in the lower town and use the public lifts or stairs to get up. Further north on the B3, Kassel has the Grimmwelt museum and the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe, a hillside park crowned by the Hercules statue.

From Kassel follow the Weser valley north, where the road runs through quiet wooded hills and half-timbered villages, to Hamelin. The old town is full of Weser Renaissance façades, and in summer the Pied Piper story is performed in the streets.

The last leg crosses the flat north German plain to Bremen, where the bronze Town Musicians stand beside the town hall and the Roland statue guards the market square. Explore the narrow lanes of the Schnoor quarter on foot; historic centres along this route are best reached from park-and-ride sites or car parks on the edge.